Perhaps the only thing that changes more rapidly than technology in today's amped-up digital environment is the terminology used to describe that technology and its impact on consumers--and marketers. One recent example is the advent of the term "omnichannel" marketing, which many struggle to differentiate from another relatively recent term--"multichannel" marketing. Still, those who are most enmeshed in the field say there is a key distinction between the two, and it's one that will have an impact on marketers as they continue to seek ways of having a meaningful impact on the consumers they hope to engage. And, importantly, it's less about technology than it may seem.

NextPage Launches NXT 4 Software

NextPage Inc. has announced the launch of NXT 4, a publishing suite for publishers and corporations to secure and deliver information on the Internet, to corporate intranets, and on CD/DVD. NXT 4 is designed for commercial publishers, who provide content on the Web or through other electronic media, and for publishers of corporate reference libraries, which deliver information critical to decision making to employees and clients.

NXT 4 is intended to allow publishers to use one production process to deliver to different electronic media. With NextPage's new library manager application, publishers deliver the same publication simultaneously to the Internet, a customer's intranet, or to CD-ROM. New license management features in NXT 4 allow publishers to apply secure license rights to content delivered on CD and to corporate intranets. License rights features include the ability to lock and unlock content, limit access to users and time out the content after days used or on a specific date. With NXT 4, publishers can also provide real-time updates via the Internet. They can distribute publications to end users in any electronic media, and then deliver real-time updates of content over the Internet to CD/DVD users or corporate intranet users.

Corporations that need to deliver business-critical information to end users, such as auditors, insurance underwriters or other frontline service professionals, can use NXT 4 to reduce risk of noncompliance with features such as a user interface designed for researchers, incremental updates, and content networking with other offices and commercial publishers. Corporations can use NXT 4 in applications such as auditor's reference libraries, help desk knowledgebases, and electronic policy and procedure manuals. Corporations can also use the update distribution feature to distribute incremental updates of information quickly to users. NXT 4 is scheduled to ship by Sept. 30, 2003.